Bloody Mary
by Calypphire
Summary: Something is going on in Hogwarts. It has everyone spooked and in wonder who is creating it. Someone actually thought if might be the ghost of Mary. Who knows? Please read and review. Complete
1. Dark Feelings

Author's Note: All Harry Potter based characters belong to J. K. Rowling. But I own all the original characters.

Chapter One

Dark Feelings

Dumbledore stood before the students and the rest of the staff of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and began to speak. His voice had a sort of grave. But then everyone was in deep, deep shock as to what happened.

"As you know," he spoke, "There has been a grave accident within this school. How it happened, no-one seems to know, but I hope that this is a one time incident that will never happen again."

All the students knew whom and what he was talking about. Earlier that day, a group of girls were heard screaming when they walked into a bathroom and found one another girl on the floor, with her head pooled with blood and it was believed that her eyes were gouged out.

How it happened? Nobody knew. Why it happened? It was anyone's guess. Who did it? That was the biggest mystery of them all. What student would want to go about killing a student?

"As caution for the time being," Dumbledore continued on, "I want all students to be in pairs or in groups. Now, please go to your dormitories and no-one is to leave until tomorrow morning."

The students began to rise from their seats and slowly began to leave the Great Hall. All were muttering to themselves, keeping to their friends. But it was obvious on what they were talking about.

"But why would anyone want to kill a third-year Hufflepuff girl?" Ron asked to his friends.

"No idea," said Hermione, Harry shook his head to confirm that he didn't have a clue either.

"This is as bad as what happened with the basilisk," Harry muttered.

"Perhaps worse than that," said Hermione. "No-one died, unless you can count You-Know-Who."

"That man has more lives than a cat," said Harry, "though I wouldn't actually officially call him a man."

The trio walked the corridors towards the Gryffindor Tower. All seemed to be quiet now. But it was a very disturbing silence; it was as though there was a presence. It wasn't that of Peeves the Poltergeist, for even though he was a royal pain in the backside to all students, his energy wasn't that of the one people seem to be feeling now.

This felt dark, unsettled and as though this killing was just the beginning of something extremely horrifying. The students could feel it, so could the staff.

"Who could it have been, Albus?" McGonagall asked her voice was weaved with worry and a small hint of fear.

"I don't know, Minerva," Dumbledore replied, with an expression that was of the same worry. "I honestly don't."

"If these killings were to continue, Headmaster …?" Snape spoke up, in spite the knowledge of being clearly disliked by all students, but his own Slytherin house, his voice was of a mere turn of concern.

"Let us hope it doesn't come to that, Severus," said Dumbledore. "We don't want the students afraid of this school."

"Interesting to say such things, when we've had the Dark Lord intruding the walls a few years ago," said Snape, raising his eyebrows at the Headmaster's choice of words. "Not to mention the knowledge that we had a basilisk in the school, and Black breaking in when it was believed that he was a mass murderer at the time. Not to mention the fact that Moody was an impostor last year."

"I am very aware of that, Severus," said the elderly wizard quietly. "But each time the students were never actually killed. This time we have a death on our hands and it won't be long before the parents would be pulling their children out."

"Aren't there any clues to whom did this killing?" McGonagall asked.

"Honestly, Minerva," said Dumbledore. "I clearly just don't know."

The Headmaster sighed; he wished he had a clear understanding to all of this.

"I think it best if we all just turned in for the night," he finally said.

Snape and McGonagall didn't object, they both turned and left the Headmaster's office. Both were just as baffled about this as everyone else. The feel of unsettled darkness washed over them as they walked the hallways.

McGonagall's skin received goose bumps, while Snape had this sick feeling in his gut. Both felt icy, cold running down their spins and what's even more unsettling was the fact that they didn't have a single clue as to what could be causing this.

"Good night, Severus," said McGonagall, when they reached a t-junction.

"See you in the morning then," Snape said, nodding.

McGonagall walked down the right, while Snape went to the left. McGonagall continued to look and she didn't know why she did, just she did, she looked to her left to see her reflection in a small mirror. She almost jumped, but she saw there was no point, it was just her reflection.

She shook her head a little, muttering to herself, telling herself to keep it together. Since when does ones reflection harm people? She continued on down to the hallway until she got to a portrait of a playful bunch of tabby kittens.

"Elizabeth," she said.

The portrait pushed on back slightly and lifted up into the ceiling, revealing a passageway. McGonagall walked inside it and the portrait lowered as torches lit up the way. The passage wasn't long; she reached a doorway and entered her quarters.

McGonagall very much liked her quarters. It was a small, it was simple, but then, she didn't need much at all. To her right as she entered, there was the living area. Standing in front of the cosy looking fireplace was a red couch with matching armchairs, they were lined with gold fringes around the bottom and arms and the cushions that sat upon the couch were also gold. In between was a light wood coloured coffee table and on each side of the couch were matching tall tables with lamps on each one and framed photos on the one closest to her.

There was a sudden meow coming from passed the living area and McGonagall walked along passed the living area and the three doors, the first being her office away from the office, the second was her bedroom and the last was none other than the bathroom. She reached the small, yet simple corner kitchen and dining room that lied at the back of the unit. Sitting on one of the dining room chairs was her cat.

McGonagall smiled and walked over to the feline with smooth grey fur and beautiful eyes of amber-green. McGonagall patted the cat.

"I suppose I better feed you now, shouldn't I, Xavier?"

The cat just purred at the gentle pats he was getting from his owner. McGonagall walked over to the kitchen and opened the cupboard up top and pulled out a small can of tuna, she knew Xavier too well to know he just won't resist it. McGonagall placed the fish onto Xavier's cat dish and the cat hurried over, he sniffed the meal he was given and took a little bit to test it out. Once his taste spuds had confirmed it was tuna, he began to home into it.

McGonagall left her cat to get herself ready for bed. It had been a frightful and disturbing day and all she wanted was to rest. Once she was in her night dress and her grey hair was out of its bun, she went to check on Xavier. He was still eating his food.

She smiled and sighed a little. Her eye caught sight of the photos upon the table by the couch. She walked over to them and picked up the one she always picks up whenever she goes near them.

It was a picture of her when she was much, much younger. Her hair the colour of coffee brown and she didn't have glasses. She was sitting on a bench sort of thing, but it wasn't her younger self she was looking at. No, it was the little girl wrapped within her arms she was looking at. The little girl had the same coffee brown hair and she was wearing a very pretty violet coloured set of robes, which blended nicely against the emerald green robes of the much younger McGonagall.

McGonagall placed a finger upon the girl, who was smiling from ear to ear and enjoying this hug she was in. On the bottom of the golden frame was an engraving; _Minerva and Elizabeth McGonagall 5 November 1956_. How she remembered that day so well.

Suddenly something made her jerk her head to the right. She saw a sudden movement of a shadow on the wall. McGonagall looked over and saw that Xavier had moved from the bench. Sighing with utter relief, she had to laugh at herself.

"It was just Xavier," she muttered out loud to herself.

She placed the photo down and went to her bedroom. She slipped into the warmth of her thick covers. Xavier jumped up and walked over to his owner, with deep purrs. McGonagall smiled as her cat curled up beside her. She patted him for as long as she was still awake. But soon, she was in a deep, deep sleep.


	2. Bloody Mary

Author's Note: All Harry Potter based characters belong to J. K. Rowling. But I own all the original characters.

Note: Thank you Kears for your review. Dumbledore said students should travel in pairs or groups, not the staff.

Chapter Two

Bloody Mary

Pansy Parkinson woke up, she needed to go to the bathroom. She pulled the covers off of her and sat up. She placed her slippered on and went to the girls' bathroom of the girl's side of the dormitory. Once she was finished she went to wash her hands. But as she did, she felt something brush up against her arm.

Frowning a little, she looked to her left. Nothing there, she frowned deeper. Thinking it was nothing more than her imagination; she shrugged and went to look into the mirror. She jumped almost a mile off of the ground out of sheer shock. She stared straight into the mirror and stared hard. Staring straight back at her was an extremely pale figure, her clothes were white and her dark hair looked as though it hadn't been combed for years.

Pansy was trembling at the figure. The eyes were piercing and full of a murderous glare. The figure was standing next to Pansy, but when Pansy looked beside her, she saw nobody. Pansy stared back at the mirror. The figure was still there!

With fear clearly in her eyes, she watched as the figure move her hand up Pansy's back. Pansy could feel it, she felt it take a hold of the back of her neck and her eye widened even more when she saw the knife in the other hand of the figure. The figure brought the knife to the frightened girl's neck and sliced cleanly and deeply.

The blood oozed down and Pansy's body fell to the ground. Pansy's lifeless body lied upon the bathroom floor. One thing that was certain, the index finger from her right finger had been cut off, it was missing. It wasn't until six fifteen when there was a sudden scream, waking the other girls up.

What happened to Parkinson, no-one knew. It didn't just send shockwaves into the Slytherins, but it sent shockwaves into the other houses. If it can happen to a Slytherin, it can happen to anyone. What is going on?

"But what connection did Parkinson and that Hufflepuff girl have to make this maniac kill?" Ron asked when he and his friends were in the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Don't know," said Hermione, shaking her head.

"Kind of reminds me of that urban legend," Harry spoke up. "I heard Dudley and his pals talking about ghost stories. This was ages ago, but one story was about someone called Bloody Mary."

"Bloody Mary?" Ron asked.

"That's a load of rubbish, Harry," said Hermione, rather strong about it. "Bloody Mary was just made up to scare people on sleepovers and such. There is no such a person as Bloody Mary. Even if every country has their own version."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked. "I didn't quite believe in ghosts until I saw them with my own eyes here at Hogwarts."

"Ghosts are real," said Hermione. "But ghosts, or spirits, who kill? I don't think so."

"But what about Peeves?" Harry spoke, trying to get his point across.

"Peeves is a poltergeist, Harry, he's the kind that likes to pull pranks, not kill," said Hermione, a little stubborn.

"Who is Bloody Mary?" Ron asked.

"As Hermione said, each country has their own version, some have more than just the one," Harry began. "But each one has one thing in common and that a girl named Mary was murdered brutally or something else, each place it's different. But it's believed if you stand in front of a mirror and say Bloody Mary a certain amount of times, Mary will appear and she will haunt you and, or, kill you."

"Like I said, it's a load of rubbish," said Hermione, strongly.

"May I ask what it is you believe is such rubbish?" asked a familiar voice.

The trio turned in their seat to see Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington floating behind them.

"Hello Sir Nicholas," said Hermione.

"We were talking about a legend called Bloody Mary," said Harry, before Hermione could say something that would send Sir Nicholas away.

Hermione's eyes stared at him with a glare. But Sir Nicholas jolted a little; his head nearly fell from its severed neckline.

"You've heard about those Mary tales?" he asked.

"Yes, it's very, very popular to the muggle children when it comes of slumber parties?" Harry replied, nodding. "Why? Do you know about the legend yourself?"

"I'm a ghost, of course I know," said Sir Nicholas, his voice seemed a little fearful. "Believe me; you wouldn't want to go calling for her."

"Why not?" Ron asked, unsure as to why.

"She is one vicious spirit," said Sir Nicholas. "Not even the Bloody Baron will dare to speak of her because of her violent ways."

"You can't be telling me that this Bloody Mary is actually true?" said Hermione, her face still wearing a frown.

"Many call her Bloody Mary as it seems to be a name that has lived on for aeons back. But it is very possible that her name isn't Mary at all," said Sir Nicholas. "No-one knows how the legend began. But one thing is for sure, each time a girl, or woman, named dies in some brutal way, or she has a spirit that is as evil as the blackest of hearts, she is likely take over from the Mary before her and takes her turn as being Bloody Mary."

"But there are girls and women killed brutally every day," said Harry.

"I believe on the upmost vicious of souls will take the place," said Sir Nicholas, it was clear he didn't want to speak of it anymore.

"But why is it always a female?" asked Hermione.

Sir Nicholas sighed; "Honestly, I cannot give you a clear answer to this question. But I can give you my theory as to why. Some believe that females are more likely to be vicious when they're betrayed or hurt in the most unforgiving ways. Meaning dead, if their souls are trapped in such turmoil and hate, they're likely to take it out on the living. Thus giving the story Bloody Mary."

"But it's interesting," said Hermione. "What did Parkinson and the Hufflepuff girl have in common?"

Sir Nicholas shook his head. "I am afraid I don't know."

With that, he floated away, leaving the trio in deep wonder.

"So the legend is true," said Ron, worried.

"I still think it's all a big ball of fairytales," said Hermione, shaking her head of what Sir Nicholas had told them.

"But you heard Sir Nick," said Harry. "What makes me even more curious is to why anyone would want to summon this Bloody Mary."

"Look," said Hermione, grabbing her bag. "We better get to class."

The first class was Potions. Something was definitely noticeable was seeing just how distraught and how afraid the Slytherins were. Malfoy didn't even bother taunting the Golden Trio; he was just in stun as to what had happened.

The classroom door opened and Professor Snape appeared.

"Please enter," he said, he still had his usual cool tone.

But Harry picked up the tiny hints of worry. Snape just told them what potion they were doing and got them to work. Class was just plain strange. There was no Slytherins trying to get away with anything, no … nothing.

What happened to Parkinson clearly scared the Slytherins and it was showing. When Neville Longbottom melted his cauldron again, every single Gryffindor was expecting Snape to blow up and tell Neville just how stupid he was. But it didn't come. Snape saw this and simple told Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan to help Neville clean the mess up.

Very weird indeed. So weird, it was frightening.


	3. Two More

Author's Note: All Harry Potter based characters belong to J. K. Rowling. But I own all the original characters.

Note: Thank you Wadesoj for your review. I knew there was always a reason why I hate being in the bathroom in the dark. This was all before I even knew of this Bloody Mary legend. Probably all those horror shows I've seen with death and mirrors.

Chapter Three

Two More

The deaths of Pansy Parkinson and the Hufflepuff girl, whose name, as it turns out, was Moya Tate reached the parents of the students. Understandably there were a couple who thought it safer to pull their children out and wait until this mystery was solved.

Three days had passed since the death of Parkinson. All was silent, all seemed calm. Things seemed to start getting back on track, even though the deaths would forever plague on the minds of the current students and staff members.

It was late at night; Snape was doing markings in the office of his quarters. He put down his quill and began to rub his eyes with his thumb and first two fingers. He pulled them away, sighed and looked at the time. It was close to midnight, he needed to sleep.

He looked at the other work he had to mark. There weren't that many left to do. He can easily do them in the morning. He placed his quill beside the ink well and neatened everything up before getting up from his chair and walked out from behind the desk and moved out from his office to the open area of his quarters.

Being that black was his best colour, it was no surprise that he had a black, soft leather couch, with a mahogany and glass coffee table and a carpet bearing the Slytherin emblem. This was the living room, very, very simple indeed. Walking from his office he went to the bathroom and flicked on the light.

He moved over to the sink and grabbed his toothbrush and the toothpaste. For the next couple of minutes there was nothing but the sound of Snape brushing his teeth. Snape went and rinsed his mouth out and when he looked up into the mirror, instead of seeing his own reflection, staring straight back at him were a pair of extremely piercing close to very pale eyes.

Snape shut his eyes tight;

"Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary," he began to call out in a strong, yet scared tone, "Leave my mirrored soul tonight. Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary, leave my mirrored soul tonight!"

Carefully, Snape opened his eyes and looking back at him was his own reflection. Satisfied, he hurried out of the bathroom and to his bedroom. He quickly changed into his pyjamas and slipped into bed. He didn't dare to turn out the bedside lamp tonight.

Snape opened his eyes, he saw the time.

"Seven thirty-seven," he muttered, "I slept in!"

He sat up and saw that he had his lamp on. He remembered why. Believing all was fine; he turned off the lamp and got out of bed. He grabbed his dressing gown and went to the bathroom to have a shower. He relaxed; everything was fine, extremely fine. He turned off the shower and began to dry himself off. But he felt something. It felt like a drop, landing upon his foot, he looked down, and saw the blot of red just resting near the second and middle toes.

Then another landed straight on the same spot on his foot. He looked up to see where the drops of red were coming from. His jaw dropped at the sight. He quickly hurried and got dressed and used the fireplace to get the Headmaster. Seconds later, Dumbledore arrived and he followed the Potions Master to the scene.

Up upon the ceiling of the bathroom were a Ravenclaw girl and a Gryffindor boy. They were magically being held up by rope, which was around their wrists and ankles. Their heads were slumped forwards; the girl's throat had been sliced, while the boy's eyes were missing. Blood was dripping from these areas.

Dumbledore took out his wand and carefully let the bodies down from the ceiling and allowed them to rest on the bathroom floor.

"We better inform the parents of Miss Ann White and Mr Seamus Finnigan," said Dumbledore, sadly.

"Headmaster, what is going on?" Snape asked.

Dumbledore's expression was grave as he spoke; "Alert the staff, I want them to sort out the students. Those willing to risk and stay and those who want to leave for until this is finally solved."

"What is going on?" Snape asked again, this time very, very frustrated because of the fact that he had been freaked out the night before and now he found two bodies upon his bathroom ceiling.

"I have an idea," said Dumbledore. "But I better wait and tell it to everyone who stays in the school."

The bodies of Seamus Finnigan and Ann White were given to their families. As for the other students, Dumbledore had them all summoned to the Great Hall and asked of those who wanted to leave and wait until this mystery was solved to gather their belongs and the train will be leaving Hogsmeade station at eleven o'clock. As for those who were staying, they were to stay in the Great Hall and will be spoken to further on when those leaving have all left.

Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys were all staying, as were a few other Gryffindors. Only four Hufflepuffs stayed and seven Ravenclaws, as for the Slytherins, Malfoy was staying, as were Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise Zabini and four others. It was clear that there were a fair number of frightened students and any opportunity to get out was fine by them.

Dumbledore and the rest of the staff knew there would be only a few who would stay, while the majority would flee, who could blame them?

"Can those remaining please sit at the Hufflepuff table, so is to fill up the table, please?" asked Dumbledore, as he left his position at the staff table and moved to the Hufflepuff table, the rest of the staff followed this.

Dumbledore sighed a little.

"Is everyone aware of the tale, Bloody Mary?" Dumbledore asked.

The students nodded at this.

"It's an urban legend," said a Ravenclaw boy.

"I am here to tell you its fact," said Dumbledore.

"But how is that possible?" asked Hermione.

"What do these people have in common with this spirit?" asked Neville Longbottom.

It was actually a deep surprise that Neville didn't leave with the rest of the students.

"I could be anything," said Dumbledore.

"Better question," said Snape. "What idiot summoned the spirit in the first place?"

"In some cases, Mary can get you without needing to be summoned," said Harry.

"You would know this, how Potter?" Snape's voice was so full of his well known coldness.

"Bloody Mary may be true here, but in the muggle world its one very popular ghost story and some kids go and dare one another to summon Mary," Harry told him.

"Either way," said Dumbledore. "For now, we are going to all be in groups. If you want to stick to being with your friends, fine, but the staff will be close by to you all.

"I hope that this mystery gets solved soon. I don't want another brutal killing in my school."

Dumbledore said he will give out full instructions later that day, but for the time being, he wanted the students to stay in their dorms and get their minds on something other than this whole mystery for until it was time to start going by Dumbledore's yet to be told instructions. Each Head of House escorted the remainder of their houses to their common rooms.

Dumbledore sighed under his breath. How he wanted this to end.


	4. Writing the Clues and the Little Girl

Author's Note: All Harry Potter based characters belong to J. K. Rowling. But I own all the original characters.

Note: Thank you to Wadesoj, Sailor Hecate and Kears for your reviews. Kears all will be revealed on way Snape was unharmed.

Chapter Four

Writing the Clues and the Little Girl

"Give me that quill for a moment," said Hermione to Ron.

Ron wondered why and gave Hermione his quill. Hermione took a sheet of parchment and dipped the tip of the quill into the inkwell before writing upon the parchment.

"What are you doing?" asked Harry.

"Writing down the names of those who were killed," said Hermione.

"Don't forget to put Snape down," said Harry. "He may not have been killed, but he was still visited."

"How do you know?" Ron asked.

"Just the feeling, being that Ann and Seamus were both found on his bathroom ceiling," said Harry. Then he paused for a second; "Hey notice that all for bodies were found in a bathroom."

Hermione wrote this down.

"Also I heard Snape mention that Ann had her throat slit," said Ron. "Just like Parkinson."

"Plus Seamus having his eyes taken out like Moya," said Harry.

"Okay," said Hermione. "So far I have got the four victims, five if you count Snape, the location of where they're found and what happened to them. What's interesting is that none are from the same house."

"So we ought to rule out house as something that is of connection between these deaths and the attempted killing of Snape," said Harry.

"How come it didn't get Snape?" Ron asked frowning. "Everyone else has been killed, but not Snape."

"That is a mystery," said Hermione. "Perhaps he did something that made Mary think twice."

Harry looked at the clues Hermione had written down. There had to be something about this connection.

"Hang on, how did Seamus get from our common room to Snape's bathroom?" Harry suddenly asked. "Plus I assume the Ravenclaw girl was also in her common room."

This question raised some silent thoughts in each one of the trio's heads. How indeed?

"We need to find out more about Mary and what is going on," said Harry, he looked at Hermione. "This is no longer a ball of fairytales Hermione, this is the real deal and we need to find a way to stop her from killing again."

Hermione seemed to think more of the possibility of a Bloody Mary after the discovery of Seamus and Ann.

"We need to get to the library," she said.

"It is possible that we need to get into the restricted section," said Harry.

"Let's see McGonagall first," said Hermione, grabbing her bag.

The trio hurried to find McGonagall, only to nearly collide into Snape.

"If it isn't the Golden trio," said Snape, coldly. "What are you doing running about in the castle?"

"We need to find Professor McGonagall," said Harry straight out.

"Professor McGonagall is busy with the Headmaster and some of the ghosts," Snape smoothly replied.

"We need to get into the restricted section of the library," said Hermione, straight out, ignoring the looks from Harry and Ron. She gave Snape what she wrote; "We need to know more to why these victims … and you, were targeted by Mary and how those bodies wound up in your bathroom."

Snape looked at this and raised his eyebrows.

"And you believe that the explanation is in the restricted section?" he asked, giving back the parchment.

"Yes," said Hermione.

Snape stepped aside; "Don't let me stop you then, tell Madam Pince I requested it."

The trio were stunned.

"Get out of my sight before I change my mind!" Snape snapped in his usual way.

Harry, Ron and Hermione didn't need to be told twice and hurried towards the library. Madam Pince didn't seem to want to believe them, but she eventually allowed them into the restricted section. The search began, they could only hope and pray.



Filch was mopping up the hallway floors of the second floor, muttering on how disgusting students were. He was so busy with his chore; he didn't seem to notice the shadow zipping ahead of him.

"Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, how does your garden grow? Silver bells and cockle-shells, and pretty maids all in a row," a sing song voice came singing out from somewhere in front of Filch.

Filch looked up and he saw a girl, she looked to be about eight years old. Her hair was all dark like the colour of coffee beans, her eyes were blue and she looked rather pretty. She was wearing a violet colour dress with a bow at the back and white Mary-Jane sandals and white socks. One her left wrist was a silver bracelet and around her neck was a silver necklace with a silver heart and small pink gem in the centre of it.

"Hello," she said. "What's your name?"

Filch looked about him and looked at this girl, she was still standing there before him.

"How did you get this castle you little brat?" he snapped.

"No need to be rude, sir," said the little girl. "Have you seen my mother?"

"No I haven't you little brat, so go on, get out of here?" Filch was extremely frustrated.

The girl looked behind Filch and her eyes widened, as face turned from pleasant to terror. Filch saw the girl's change of expression and frowned a little before turning to see, to his fulfilled horror, a figure of a young woman. Her hair was dark, uncombed and her clothes of white seemed to blend in with her dead white skin.

Filch turned back and saw that the little girl had disappeared. His heart thumping he turned back and saw that the girl had moved a couple of steps towards him. He wanted to run, but his feet were bolted to the ground.

The figure took another step forward then suddenly fast forward so that she was now only ten steps away, then as she took another step forward, she fast forwards again. She stood just centimetres away from Filch and she glared at him straight into his eyes.

Filch felt her hand running up his front and stopped at his chest. Her hand rested for a minute, it felt so cold. Suddenly, without any indications, her hand shot straight into his chest, Filch screamed the loudest scream his voice box could muster, before he collapsed to the ground.

The sound of running footstep were heard, Harry, Ron, Hermione and McGonagall reached the area. They saw Filch's body, lying on his back, with a hole in his chest, right where his heart used to be. His heart was on the ground beside the corpse. It was still beating, but it was slowing down to a stop.

Harry looked above Filch and saw that he was standing by a mirror.

"She's getting bolder," he said. "She's not using a bathroom mirror."

"What are you talking about, Potter?" McGonagall asked, deeply disturbed by the sight of Filch's heartless corpse.

"We've been doing some research, Professor," said Hermione, carefully. "We've been looking up on anything that will give us a clue as to what is setting off these attacks. We have found a list of victims that have died mysteriously, not to mention brutally, dating back since the first of January 1957 here in the United Kingdom."

McGonagall raised her eyebrows at this.

"You have?" she said, her voice seemed a little broken.

Hermione pulled out the list from her bag and gave it to the Deputy Headmistress. McGonagall looked at the list. But it was the first name on the list that hit her the most.

"Where did you find this?" she asked, her eyes were going a little teary.

"In the restricted section, Professor," said Hermione, carefully. "Snape gave us permission to find out what we could."

"May we ask if you knew who the first girl was?" Harry carefully asked. "She shared your surname."

McGonagall looked at the name. "I knew her, very well," she replied, keeping herself from going into tears. "Elizabeth Marie was my daughter and only child. I found her on the morning of the first of January, lying on her bedroom floor, in front of the tall mirror she used to own. Her throat was slit and no-one could explain who, what and why.

"I have been wondering for so long what had happened to her. Now these unexplained deaths, just seem to be giving more clues as to what happened."

The trio were stunned. They had no idea McGonagall even had children, let alone had been married. But then, teachers don't go about talking about their personal lives.

"What else have you found out?" McGonagall asked, wiping away a straying tear.

"We better get everyone else first," said Harry.

"What do we do about Filch?" Ron asked, looking at the corpse.

"It will be taken care of," said McGonagall, "Best to tell Dumbledore to get everyone into the Great Hall."

The trio all nodded, Harry and Ron went to find Dumbledore, while Hermione stayed to help McGonagall take care of the body. The feeling of unsettled darkness illuminated the halls of Hogwarts Castle.


	5. Matching the Clues

Author's Note: All Harry Potter based characters belong to J. K. Rowling. But I own all the original characters.

Chapter Five

Matching the Clues

Dumbledore looked at the list the trio had found. He frowned a little.

"Have you found any connections to these unfortunate victims?" he asked the trio.

"That's what we're trying to find," said Hermione.

"Can I have a look at that list for a moment?" Snape asked.

Dumbledore gave Snape the list.

"One thing is for certain," said Harry, "Everyone who died had a mirror very close to their bodies."

"Doesn't explain how those bodies wound up in Professor Snape's bathroom," said a Hufflepuff girl.

"Have you found anything about that?" asked Dumbledore to the trio.

"What I figured just occurred to be, I completely forgot about it until we started researching," Harry spoke; this was interesting, as it is normally Hermione who is like this. "I remember hearing that Mary is able to pull her victims inside the mirror, where they disappear for life. But I don't think this is the case here.

"Snape, did you see Mary at all on the night before you found the bodies?"

"I did, Potter, yes," said Snape, looking up from the list.

"How come she didn't try and harm you?" Harry asked.

"Because I spoke the words you're supposed to speak when you see her in your mirror. You say muggle children enjoy these thrill games, what they don't know is that they have to say Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary, leave my mirrored soul tonight twice," Snape explained.

"Is it possible that, even though you said the words to get rid of her, that she could have all ready placed the bodies on your ceiling and you didn't see them? You caught her leaving the scene?" Harry questioned Snape.

Snape went into quiet thought. He didn't think about that idea.

"It is possible," he said slowly.

He back at the list, then he seemed to have seen something.

"Granger, where is the list of the four victims?"

"Five now," said Hermione, pulling out the notes and gave the correct one to Snape. "I added Filch to the list."

"What did you find?" asked Malfoy.

Snape looked at the list again.

"Did you know Parkinson's middle name?" he asked Malfoy.

"It was Mariel," said Malfoy.

"Did anyone know Miss White's full name?"

"Ann Marie," said a Ravenclaw girl.

"What have you figured out, Severus?" asked McGonagall.

"Each of these victims had the name Mary in them," said Snape.

"But what about the victims who were male?" Hermione asked, her brows furrowing a little.

"Seamus's mother's name was Maureen," said Dumbledore. "Filch's mother was named Mariam."

"That explains the reason why they call it Bloody Mary," Ron muttered.

"But this is strange, the victims were all between ages eight and eighteen, that was until Filch was attacked," said Hermione.

"As I said, she's getting bolder," said Harry. "This Mary, whoever she is, getting more brutal by the looks of what happened to Filch."

"Is this the only list you found?" Snape asked.

"It is," said Hermione.

"Something tells me there were victims before this," said Snape.

Dumbledore was listening to all of this. "No need to try and find it," he said.

"Why?" asked Hermione.

"Because I have just figured out who Mary is," said Dumbledore with a quiet sigh. "Let's just say I was foolish to not take this seriously. First of all, yes, her name was Mary. Mary Worthington, she was a student at Hogwarts."

"The Slytherin girl?" McGonagall asked.

"You knew her?" asked Ron.

"She was a year below me," said McGonagall.

"Then you would remember who she hung around with," said Dumbledore.

McGonagall didn't speak any further.

"Who was this Mary Worthington?" asked Harry, curious to know.

Dumbledore sighed. "She was the lover of the one and only Tom Riddle."

Harry's eyes widened; "You're telling me that …"

Dumbledore nodded.

"But how did she, well …?" Ron wanted to ask, but seemed to be stuck in trying to say it.

But people knew what he was asking.

"She was found lying in a pool of blood in a bathroom. Next to her body was a note," said Dumbledore, reaching into his robes and pulled out a very old piece of parchment. He set it on the table. On the parchment were the words 'I am Bloody Mary, I will haunt you in your reflections, I will punish you forever … Tom Riddle.'

"If she's after Tom Riddle, why is she attacking students that aren't him?" asked Hermione.

"One thing all these victims have in common, besides their names, is that they're all half-blood," said Dumbledore. "Seamus had a muggle father."

"I take it your husband was a muggle," Snape said to McGonagall.

"He was," said McGonagall, nodding.

"But Filch is a squib," said a Ravenclaw.

"Was a squib," Fred corrected the boy.

"I take it that Mary wasn't a fan of half-bloods," said Harry, oh so much better about this whole connection.

"Parkinson was a half-blood!" Malfoy cried out in shock.

"You didn't know?" Ron responded. "Not surprised though."

"What's that supposed to mean, Weasley?" Malfoy spat.

"It's obvious, you and your love of being nothing but pure in blood," said Ron.

"Hang on," said Harry. "You're saying half-blood? Tom Riddle was half-blood, or is, now that he's back … just under a different name."

"The Dark Lord is half-blood?" Malfoy was even more stunned.

"I found out in the second year," said Harry. "Doesn't matter how, but is it possible that she found out about Tom Riddle and tried to get rid of him?"

"It is very likely," said Dumbledore. "Mary was into finding someone who was very pure in blood. It is possible she found out about Tom Riddle, only I think Tom was rather violent when she tried to break off their relationship.

"There are many stories to how she died, but I believe now that she is now able to roam freely, without being summoned."

"But what about the muggle kids who dare to call for her?" Hermione asked.

"Mary seems to be more concentrating on the school," said Dumbledore. "This Mary is anyway."

"Great, I'm not going to be able to get any sleep now that she's walking around," said Ron.

"Stay in groups," said Dumbledore. "I believe us staff members should do the same."

No-one objected to this at all.

"How can we get rid of Mary?" Hermione asked.

"That is yet to be found," said Dumbledore.

"That doesn't give much confidence," Ron muttered to his friends.

"We best try and find out how we can get rid of Mary," said George.

"I will inform Madam Pince that I have given you all permission to use the restricted section of the library. I think we all better try and find out how to rid Mary from these walls," said Dumbledore. "For the time being, I want everyone to stay in their common rooms. Though I would ask the Hufflepuff to move into the Ravenclaw common room, just to be on the safer side."

There were no objections what's so ever. Everyone left to go to their common rooms.


	6. Elizabeth and Mary's Garden

Author's Note: All Harry Potter based characters belong to J. K. Rowling. But I own all the original characters.

Note: Thank you to Sailor Hecate and Chocheryl for your reviews.

Chapter Six

Elizabeth and Mary's Garden

"Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary," a harmonious voice sang. "How does your garden grow?"

Harry opened his eyes, that song was in his head and he didn't know why. He reached out for his glasses and placed them on, only to nearly jump out of his skin when he saw a little girl standing at the side of his bed.

Her hair of coffee brown was hanging down to her chest and her violet coloured dress was all neat and tidy.

"Hello," she said.

"Who are you?" Harry asked, unsure how to act.

"Have you seen my mother?" the girl asked.

"I don't know," Harry replied. "Who is your mother?"

The little girl suddenly let out an ear piercing scream and Harry quickly turned to see nothing but dark hair over a face, but the piercing eyes were looking at him with nothing but sheer murder within.

Harry yelled out and tried to get away, but her hand grabbed his wrist, she was very, very strong. Harry yelled and screamed as loudly as he could. Mary went to place her hand upon Harry's head, Harry continued to shout.

Suddenly a loud smash came; something hard and heavy came and tossed Mary away. Harry sat up and jumped out of his bed and saw the heavy book that had smacked Mary aside. He saw Neville and Ron, awake and with their wands out, not that wands would really do anything, being that Mary is all ready dead.

All three boys stared at Mary, who stood up and looked at each one of them. Her eyes went straight to Harry and she went to step towards him, but she stopped suddenly. The little girl stepped in front of Harry.

"Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary, leave his soul tonight!" she spoke in a clear voice. "Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary, leave his soul tonight!"

Mary began to fade and shiver as though she were a television screen. She disappeared and the little girl turned and looked at Harry. She went to fade away.

"No, wait!" Harry cried out.

But the little girl faded into nothing as if she never were.

The door burst open and McGonagall, Hermione and the rest of the Weasleys all piled on into the room.

"What happened? Who screamed?" McGonagall demanded.

"Mary, she was in our room!" Neville responded. "She was after Harry!"

"But a little girl, she stopped her," said Harry, he was in wonder as to who the little girl was.

"What little girl?" Hermione asked.

"A little girl, she was at my bedside, singing a nursery rhyme. I woke, saw her and she asked me if I had seen her mother. When I asked who her mother was, she screamed and that's when I saw Mary. I think she was going to try and crush my skull in, being that was where she was aiming, until someone threw a book at her," Harry explained.

"That was Neville, who threw the book," said Ron.

"Anyway, Mary was going to go towards me again and that's when the little girl appeared and said the words Snape said to say," said Harry.

"Where is this little girl?" George asked.

"She disappeared," said Harry.

"I think we best move to the Great Hall," said McGonagall. "I'll get Dumbledore, you stick together."

No objections from anyone.

Once everyone was in the Great Hall, Harry was questioned by Dumbledore and McGonagall.

"What did this girl look like?" Dumbledore asked.

"She had coffee brown hair, blue eyes," said Harry, going from memory. "She had a violet coloured dress on, silver necklace and bracelet, white shoes and socks. She was singing a nursery rhyme, Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary."

"How does your garden grow," said McGonagall all of a sudden. She looked at Harry. "Did you see anything on the bracelet?"

Harry thought back to his brief interaction with the little girl.

"I saw a date on it, fifth of November," said Harry.

"And the necklace?" McGonagall asked her voice seemed to be a little hopeful.

"It was heart shaped with a pink gemstone in it," said Harry.

McGonagall nodded. She looked as though she was keeping herself from crying.

"Excuse me," she said.

McGonagall walked away and Harry couldn't help but be rather concerned.

"I take it I had just described Elizabeth," he said.

Dumbledore sighed sadly; "Indeed you have," he replied. "McGonagall doesn't talk about what happened to her daughter very often, if not at all. But I knew that she and Elizabeth were very close. Especially since McGonagall had to raise her by herself since her husband died when Elizabeth was three years old."

"It must have been tough," said Harry, feeling deeply sorry for his Head of House. "But I can't help but wonder why Elizabeth would appear just before Mary shows up."

Dumbledore made a slight 'hmm' sound and turned over to Snape, who was watching the students.

"Severus," the Headmaster called.

Snape heard him and walked over to him and Harry.

"Headmaster," he said.

"Have you seen a little girl, just before you saw Mary?"

Snape thought back to that night.

"I don't remember seeing anyone, except for Mary," he carefully replied. "But I do remember, I don't know how, hearing that damned rhyme about Mary's garden growing."

"Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary?" Harry offered.

"That would be the one," said Severus. "I've always hated that song!" he muttered under his breath.

"Why would Elizabeth be singing that particular song?" Harry asked.

"It was Elizabeth's favourite, Professor McGonagall told me so herself," said Dumbledore.

"Isn't it strange that Elizabeth would be singing that very rhyme, just before Mary shows up?" Harry asked.

"Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary …" Dumbledore muttered out loud, seeming to be in deep thought. "How does your garden grow?"

"Silverbells and Cockle-shells and pretty maids all in a row," a voice completed.

Harry, Dumbledore and Snape all looked and saw, standing before them, the little girl in her violet dress and white shoes and socks and silver jewellery. Her coffee brown hair was so neat and her eyes of blue were matched to that of McGonagall.

"Elizabeth," said Dumbledore.

"Have you seen my mother, Dumbledore?" Elizabeth asked.

"Elizabeth?" the voice of a surprised McGonagall spoke.

"Mama," said Elizabeth, looking straight at McGonagall.

Harry looked from McGonagall to Elizabeth and back to McGonagall.

'Okay, this is weird!' his mind couldn't help but say.

"How is that possible?" Ron asked, who had been watching and listening to this from the sidelines. Hermione was with him.

"You don't have much time before she comes," said Elizabeth. "But you must find Mary's garden."

"Mary's Garden?" said Ron, with a small frown.

"What are you talking about?" Snape asked.

"Find Mary's Garden," said Elizabeth. "Destroy it!"

With that Elizabeth's eyes widened and she pointed straight passed the group. Everyone turned and there she was, with her dark hair curtaining her face, only showing her murderously pale eyes and dead white skin. Mary stood at the doorway to the Great Hall.

She began to step forwards. Everyone in the Great Hall was practically bolted to their spots in fear. Mary walked to a Ravenclaw boy and her hand lashed out, grabbed the top of his hair and with a quick dose of accurate strength, twisted his head right around so he was facing the other way.

McGonagall felt a small hand slip into hers. McGonagall looked down and saw Elizabeth.

"This way, mama," she said. "This way to Mary's Garden."

McGonagall didn't want to let go of the cold hand of her ghostly daughter. Harry, Ron and Hermione all saw this and went to follow Elizabeth with McGonagall.

They followed the little girl far, far into the dungeons to the Slytherin entrance way to the common room.

"But it's the Slytherin's common room," said Hermione.

"You have to go in and find Mary's Garden!" Elizabeth spoke earnestly. "You have to destroy it!"

"But how?" asked Harry. "We don't have the password!"

"Brimstone," said the one voice they weren't expecting.

They turned to see Snape. The entrance opened up for them.

"Mary is chasing Longbottom, Malfoy and a few of the other students," said Snape.

Everyone hurried into the Slytherin common room.

"How do you know that it's in here?" McGonagall asked.

"Because Mary had a secret garden here in the school, it was always in the one place she will go whenever there was no chance of going out after curfew," Elizabeth said.

"Best to scatter," said Harry, "Look for this garden."

They looked and they looked.

"Are you positive it's in here?" McGonagall asked Elizabeth.

Suddenly.

"I found it! I found it!"

McGonagall and Elizabeth hurried and found Ron standing in front of the fireplace. In his hand was a handmade parchment book. The title 'Mary's Garden.'


	7. Mary's Defeat

Author's Note: All Harry Potter based characters belong to J. K. Rowling. But I own all the original characters.

Chapter Seven

Mary's Defeat

"Mary's Garden is a book?" said Harry.

"I thought it would be some row of pot plants," said Hermione, a little surprise.

"What is in it?" McGonagall asked, seeing that Ron had opened it up to look within the pages.

"RON LOOK OUT!" Hermione screamed suddenly.

But it was too late, before Ron could even move, his head leant forwards and fell from his neck and hit the ground and rolled a little, just as the body began to fall. As the body fell, it revealed Bloody Mary standing from right behind him.

Blood poured out and the pages of the book soaked some of it up.

"You have to destroy it! You have to destroy Mary's Garden!" Elizabeth cried out. Mary fast forwarded forwards over to Harry. Snape moved over as fast as he could and grabbed the blood soaked book and tossed it into the fireplace.

Mary felt this and quickly spun around and zoomed forwards over to Snape. Her hand grabbing his throat and she began to squeeze as tightly as she could with her single hand. Snape was quickly gasping for air, his knees hitting the ground.

Elizabeth dashed over.

"Elizabeth!" McGonagall cried in quiet terror.

But Elizabeth either didn't hear her, or she chose not to. She grabbed Mary from behind and Mary let go of Snape, who dropped fully to the ground, in surprise and turned to try and swipe the little girl. But the girl disappeared and reappeared just inches to where Mary had struck.

Not Mary was so into getting at this little girl who dared to stop her from killing the fifthly half-blood that dared to be sorted into the name of Slytherin.

Snape was seen out cold, but he was all right. McGonagall watched in sheer heart thumping moments as Mary tried again and again to swipe her ghostly child. Harry and Hermione watched too, they didn't seem to know what to do.

But, with no indication of any sort of a warning, the hem of Mary's dress was starting to burn. Suddenly, flames burst out in full force, this gave Elizabeth a chance to hurry away from the flaming Mary and over to her mother and stood and watched in utter surprise. Mary was confused, she turned and she saw.

Her eyes widened, her mouth opened and a bloodcurdling, ear piercing scream escaped from her. Over by the fireplace, the pages of the book, titled 'Mary's Garden' was burning away, shrivelling up and turning to ash. Mary tried to get over to it, but she tripped and she fell, just inches from the fireplace and her body continued to burn along side with the book.

She was reduced to nothing but a pile of ashes upon the floor, beside the headless body of Ronald Weasley. Harry moved his eyes and saw Snape sitting up against the wall just next to the fireplace, his head slung forwards a little, he was out cold, but in his hand, his wand was resting its tip gently upon the ground.

McGonagall then realised, her arms were resting upon her daughter's shoulders. She could actually feel them. Harry and Hermione went over to check on Snape and place Ron's body in a body bind, like a mummy.

"Elizabeth?" McGonagall said, kneeling down to look at the little girl.

Elizabeth turned and face her mother, their matching blue eyes met.

"Mary is gone now mama," said the little girl. "I am free to move on."

"To where?" McGonagall asked.

"To where papa is," Elizabeth replied. "Mary wouldn't let go of the souls of those she killed. Now she's gone, I can go."

"But why so soon?" McGonagall asked, a tear starting on its way down her cheek.

"Don't cry mama," said Elizabeth, placing a hand on her mother's cheek. "I'll be all right."

McGonagall could still feel her daughter in her hands, so she got to pull her into her arms and held her daughter as tightly as she could. At least this time she got to say goodbye to her properly. Elizabeth gently pulled away and McGonagall watched her move on backwards, fading as she became more and more distant.

"I love you mama," she said, just as she faded away forever.

A hand was carefully placed upon McGonagall's shoulder. McGonagall looked up and saw a rather concerned Hermione Granger.

"Will you be all right, Professor?" she kindly and carefully asked.

McGonagall wiped a tear away from her cheek, her lips as a saddened smile upon it.

"I will be, Miss Granger," she replied. "Thank you."

Hermione nodded in return and helped the woman to her feet.



All slowly turned back to normal. Even though the deaths would be on the minds of many. The bodies of Ron Weasley and all others who died on the night of Mary's final hours were given to their families.

As predicted, Mrs Weasley was in the deepest of tears and babbling on how could it have happened to her own son. But the one thing she seemed to proud of was that Ron help in destroying Mary's book.

But one mystery remained. What was in that book? It was destroyed before anyone could discover what was so significant about it. Snape's almost crushed throat was healed and McGonagall was seen weeping every now and again.

A full month passed since Mary's defeat. The only ones who knew that the book existed was Snape, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Harry and Hermione. But only Ron was the one who might have known exactly what was in its pages.

It was the only remaining mystery. What was in the book titled 'Mary's Garden'? What was the big secret that is yet to be found? No-one knew. No-one will ever know.

Just as one mystery, its remains still linger. This was one story that will be told for generations to come. Another Bloody Mary tale to add to the famous wall of campfire and slumber party stories.

Will she come back? Will another take the place of Bloody Mary and call the title her own?

Some distance away from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a house in Surrey. Three girls were giggling away.

"Okay, let's play true or dare," said one with blonde hair.

"Woo, good idea, Wendy," giggled an auburn haired girl. "Who should go first?"

"You ought to, Jody," said the third and final girl.

"Sophie!" Jody crossed her arms.

"All right," said Sophie, still in a mass of giggles. "I'll go first."

"Okay," said Wendy, with a grin. "You should go into the bathroom, turn out the lights, light a candle and stand in front of the mirror. You are to call Bloody Mary three times."

Sophie shrugged, she wasn't the least bit worried, it was nothing but a myth as far as she was concerned.

"Okay," she said, getting up from the floor of the bedroom. "Where's a candle?"

Jody hurried and grabbed a candle from her cupboard and gave it to Sophie, as well as the matches.

"Remember," said Jody. "Three times."

Sophie nodded once and walked out of the bedroom and towards the bathroom. She entered and closed the door, she lit the candle first and she lit the other candles that were along the large bathroom bench between the mirror and the basin. She then shut the door, turned out the light and stood right in front of the mirror.

Her reflection staring straight back at her. Her honey brown hair and freckled skin and wearing her blue pyjamas with bunny rabbits. She took a slow, deep breath;

"Bloody Mary," she said, with not a hint of fear.

"Bloody Mary," she said the second time.

The flames on the candle wicks flickered and danced eerily. Sophie wasn't too sure about this now. But she pushed it from her mind.

"Bloody Mary!" she called straight and clear.

She stared at the mirror and she stared hard. Next thing Wendy and Jody heard was the sound of a bloodcurdling and terrifying scream, coming from the bathroom …

The End

Note: Thank you to those who have read and reviewed. Happy readings and take care. Sign Calypphire.


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